The Butterfly Effect
by Reluctant Flame
Summary: Updated! Chapter 7 now up. At what appears to be a routine yet stormy crime scene Detective Pedrosa finds something which sends chills through Horatio's team...Please read & review xox
1. Status Interruptus

**Disclaimer: Obviously I don't own anything CSI related but I do own Detective Vanessa Pedrosa. **

**Please read & review - constructive criticism is always welcome**

The air lay hot and humid around the bank of the swamp; all manner of nighttime critters could be heard calling out to one another, fighting, mating, hunting. The stagnant fetid stench rolling off the water with the barely existent breeze caught in his nostrils, evoked memories from many other nights that began just like this one had. He had received the call, gathered his troops and arrived at the scene – every ready to led them, to aid them to decipher who had done what to whom and why…He would see them brought to justice – it was just the type of man he was.

Horatio looked over the crime scene with his sharp blue eyes taking note of every person at the scene. His gaze stilled upon noticing a familiar young detective just inside the crime scene tape. Detective Vanessa Pedrosa stood 5'5" tall, her body shaped like a soft hourglass, her dark hair spilled passed her milky shoulders and was currently softly curled framing her sweet, pale face. Horatio took in her deep blue eyes with their seductive smoky make up, a frown marring her full, pretty mouth as she surveyed the scene before her. "I didn't realize we had a formal dress code this evening." Horatio quipped lightly, looking over Vanessa's outfit. Vanessa turned towards Horatio so that he could truly admire the marvel of high end fashion design.

Vanessa's body was ensconced in a beautiful soft grey silk dress that clung to her curves in all the right places – it nipped in at her slender waist and flared out over her hips. A stunning pair of Jimmy Choo shoes in a smoky purple shade matched her clutch bag. The lines and curves of her face were accentuated with smoky yet subtle make up; incredibly dark lashes framed a pair of 'Disney' eyes – huge and sapphire blue with hints of a mysterious golden fleck only visible when one stood intimately close to their owner. Horatio noted the glint of her simple white gold and diamond jewelry at her earlobes, the base of her pale throat. The soft scent of Neroli & Jasmine tempted his senses as he moved closer.

"Somebody told me I needed to get out more, that's what I was doing when this happened." She shot Horatio a disappointed look before gesturing out across the swampy ground before her. Horatio nodded, appraising her again "Well you look, you look stunning – how was your date going?" Vanessa shrugged, pouting slightly "It didn't last long enough for him to comment on the dress." Horatio looked out at the crime scene "Shame on him. Tell me, what have we got here Detective." Vanessa explained the scene to him. "A woman was found floating in the swamp by a couple who were 'parking'. The call hit dispatch at around 9pm. First unit to respond arrived at 9:17pm."

The victim was blonde haired, blue eyed with a soft, curvy body, approx 5'8, 155 pounds. Dressed in a navy skirt suit, there was nothing remarkable about her clothing, she wore a gold wedding band, watch and simple gold & diamond necklace/pendent. From his limited vantage point on the bank Horatio could see that the woman had several lacerations, bruises and some flesh missing from her left ankle. Vanessa pointed behind them back to where the couple who had called in the incident was waiting to talk to a detective. "Delko is just suiting up now to go and retrieve the body and any other evidence that might still be in the water." Vanessa informed him fidgeting slightly, she was anxious to get the poor woman out of the water, to restore the dignity she had lost when she was murdered. "Okay detective here's what I want us to do. You are going to take my keys; head back to the hummer and grab a pair of boots from the back. We need to take a closer look." Horatio handed her the keys and waited patiently for her, checking the rest of his team's status.

Delko was getting the remainder of his gear ready for underwater recovery as Vanessa approached Horatio's Hummer. "Scared of getting your feet wet?" Eric teased her, flashing his million dollar grin as he watched her grab a pair of boots from the vehicle. "No just being sensible." Vanessa informed him, sitting inside the tailgate of the car to change her shoes. "I'm not going to risk breaking my neck at a crime scene nor am I ruining a 600 pair of shoes the first time I've worn them." Delko looked at her bewildered as she removed the strappy stilettos and put on the boots. "You paid 600 for those? Was the box 9 carat gold?" Vanessa just chuckled "You men will never understand the relationship we women have with our shoes." Eric shook his head in disbelief. "I'm gonna have to start calling you Carrie Bradshaw if you keep this up. So how was your date anyway?" he asked her smirking slightly. "Well I'm standing here at a crime scene about to fish a dead woman out of a swamp, how do you think it went?" she asked him peevishly before stalking away.

"Detective! You might want to come down and have a look at this." Calleigh called from the edge of the water. Vanessa trekked down to her, seeing a black leather purse nestled on the edge of the bank. "It could be our victims." Vanessa stated watching Calleigh photograph and then collect the bag. "Tell me there's an id in there Calleigh." Vanessa prayed hoping that there would be identification inside. The sooner they knew who they had found the sooner they could start getting a solid lead on what had happened to her. Calleigh opened the bag gingerly, "No ID here detective. I've got a comb, lip gloss, cell phone, a single key, some gum and parking stubs that's it." Vanessa nodded jotting down the information, the parking stubs were at least a place to start.

The crime scene already looked well underway by the time Speedle arrived; he'd been across town meeting a friend for drinks when the call came out that he was needed at the scene. He'd got the call more than 20 minutes ago and knew that his absence would have been missed by his boss's eagle eyes. "I was across town – traffic was a nightmare." Speedle offered as an apology as he quickly entered the crime scene, kit in one hand his Nikon camera in the other as he quickly assessed the crime scene.

Horatio nodded at him watching Eric head to the waters edge. "What have we got?" Speed asked. "Female floater, doesn't seem to have been in the water long. Delko is about to fish her out now." Calleigh answered. She looked over Speedle again taking in is clothing; she noticed he was looking more polished than she'd seen him outside of a court appearance. "Were you on a date?" She asked curiously. "No! What if I was?" Speed asked setting up his camera to photograph the scene. "You had a date! Who's the lucky lady?" She teased grinning broadly. "**Had **a date Calleigh…had being the operative word in that sentence. I **had** date before I was rudely interrupted by this crime scene. So now that's out in the open can we just work the scene please?" He asks slightly annoyed, this was not how he saw his evening panning out.

Delko went it to the water, it was deeper than he'd thought, 2 feet out from the bank and it was already nearly shoulder deep. He turned back to Vanessa, "Cover me?" Vanessa cocked her rifle replying, "All dressed up and no party to go to, why not." Delko shot her another dazzling smile before inserting his mouthpiece and disappearing into the dark water. Two uniformed MDPD officers were keeping a lazy watch over the crime scene as Vanessa breathed "Oh my lord." She watched as the surface of the water split ominously, bee-lining in Delko's direction. "Detective Pedrosa." Calleigh said sharply. "I see it Calleigh." Sweat broke out along her hairline as she followed the gator, not blinking just watching its lazy progress towards the floating body. "Nessa?" Horatio prompted softly beside her, his body wound tight with tension not that his voice or his actions betrayed his feelings. "I'm on it H." She promised softly, releasing the safety mechanism.

Everyone now had their full attention focused on the gator as it slipped lower beneath the water. "I'm a lover not a fighter… Come on, don't make me shoot you…" she whispered sighting the massive reptile. The gator stilled a few feet away from the floater before dipping below the water line. Vanessa saw its tail flick the water and knew it was heading straight for the body. She loosed off two successive shots, both hitting their marks. The gator surfaced again, its white belly reflecting halogen lights and the moonlight back at them. Vanessa sighed lowering the gun slightly. Delko sprang from the water the panic clear in his eyes as he broke the surface. "What the hell!" He looked to his left and saw the gator belly up next to him, thick bloody sludge pouring from the only exit hole under its head. "Nice shooting Tex, you just saved my ass." "Maybe just your left leg." Vanessa shrugged. "Eric lets get this young lady out of the water before any more of our gator friends show up looking for a free meal." Horatio instructed.

It took Delko and the other diver about five minutes to extract the victim from the water, Alexx was waiting on the bank to look her over. "What happened to you sugar? How did you get here?" Alexx asked looking over the body quickly. "You right to go back in there Eric?" Horatio asked. "As long as Tex here reloads." Delko quipped. Vanessa reloaded, cocked the rifle and pointed it at the water. "What are you waiting for boy?" Horatio headed across to Alexx. "What can you tell me Alexx?" She looked up at him standing above her. "She doesn't have any apparent injuries apart from the flesh missing on her left leg – I'm willing to guess she was on some swamp critters entrée list. She hasn't been in the water very long, a couple of hours tops. I'll be able to tell you more when I get her on my table. It's okay baby, I'll look after you." Horatio nodded, "Call me." He turned his attention to Speedle. "You and Calleigh head back with the body; get started with her clothes Speed, Calleigh look into the purse start with the cell phone."

Eric was in the water for another hour doing a hand over hand grid search in the 50 meters surrounding the body. He didn't turn up any identification but he did find 2 guns in the water, a 9mil and a revolver. He collected them even though there was no evidence of a gunshot wound in this case.

Calleigh was working along side Speedle in the trace lab, they were mostly working in silence but Calleigh couldn't help herself, she was itching to know who Speedle had a date with. "So are you going to tell me anything or do I have to be sneaky and find out for myself, because you know I will find out right." Calleigh looked across at Speedle expectantly. He sighed and looked up from his magnifier. "Calleigh what are you babbling about?" Calleigh rolled he eyes dramatically. "Your date Romeo." She drawled at him in her unique southern twang. "You do know what happened to Romeo in the end don't you?" Speedle reminded her with a sardonic smirk. "Would you rather I called you Casanova?" Calleigh laughed. Speedle thought about it for a moment before shrugging. "Come on give a girl some details." She pleaded logging in the contents of the leather purse. "There is nothing to tell. I had a date. I was there for maybe ten minutes before I got the call out. I barely had time for small talk." He admitted, feeling slightly defeated.

Speed looked back through his magnifier quietly annoyed at himself for leaving his cell on during the date – he wasn't even on call tonight! Calleigh groaned inwardly, she knew the feeling she'd been pulled out of many dates by the dreaded "We have a scene…" phone call. "Well look if she's got even half a brain she'll reschedule and you can have another first date." Calleigh smiled empathetically. Speedle let out a clipped laugh, clearly amused "I never said this was a first date." Calleigh looked across at Speedle surprised, "You sly thing! When do we meet this lucky lady? Is it serious?" Her curiosity was peaked now; there was no way she was giving this up. Speedle collected tape lift samples from the victims clothing as he answered her, "How do you know you haven't already met her?" He taunted her knowing that his aloofness would drive her crazy.

Before she had a chance to respond Delko walked in back in his civilian clothes, his hair still wet from his post dive shower. "Calleigh I found a couple of water logged pistols in the bottom of the swamp; I logged them into ballistics for you." Delko informed her noting the mischievous look in her eyes. "Thank you Eric. We aren't finished here Speed." She warned before leaving the room. Both men watched as Calleigh left the room, Delko waited until she was down the hall before speaking again. "She was grilling you about the date wasn't she?" Speedle didn't reply he just continued to work the evidence in front of him. "Ha ha, I knew it man. Face it Speed once Calleigh finds out the whole lab will know." Speedle shot him an annoyed look, "Thanks Einstein I realized that already." Speedle sighed looking down at the evidence not looking forward to the conversation he saw looming in his future.

Vanessa finally made it back to the crime lab and was searching around for Calleigh. She had offered to give her a hand looking into the parking stubs found on their Jane Doe. She is waiting in the layout room, hastily scraping her thick hair away from her face and back into a haphazard pony-tail. The look on her face said it all, she's tired, frustrated but above all she's hungry – she hadn't managed to eat anything since lunch time and that felt like it was days ago now. "Hey you." She hears his soft gravelly voice call out to her, she hadn't even heard him come into the layout room, had no idea how long he'd been there. She blew out a frustrated breath and finally met his gaze. In return he treated her to a slow, lazy grin.

"Hey yourself." She smiled back at him looking him over closely. His shirt was slightly crumpled, his tie along with his jacket was long since removed and he looked how she felt. She could tell he'd obviously been running his hand through his thick hair – it was mussed and she resisted the urge to reach out and tame it. "It's a pity you know, all those lovely curls shoved back into a ponytail." He murmured standing close to her, itching to reach out and tuck a stray curl behind her ear but refraining because of where they were, of how easy it would be for someone to walk in on them and blow the cover on their secret. "Yeah well, they'll have a chance to be free when we close this case." She told him dryly – catching his eye before looking away again quickly. Even though he wasn't touching her, Vanessa could still feel the body heat coming off him.

He moved closer to her, his hand sliding gently along her arm coming to rest at her slender wrist. Vanessa's breath caught at the feel of his warm skin against her own – she knew he would be able to feel the quickening of her pulse as he traced feather light circles on her skin. "I never got to tell you how beautiful you look." He murmured leaning his head closer to hers. "You mean looked." She laughed derisively. "No, look. You look beautiful, right here, now." He tells her, no longer being able to resist tucking that stray curl away from her peaches and cream skin, his fingertip trailing gently across her full lower lip. "Either you need you're eyes checked or you're officially crazy." She teased him breathlessly unconsciously leaning closer to him, her free hand resting on his chest.

"Okay then, crazy it is." He murmured as he leant all the way in and pressed a discreet kiss to her temple, watching as Vanessa's cheeks flushed quickly. "Keep that up and we are going to get ourselves in trouble." Vanessa whispered using every inch of her self control not to lean up and press her lips to his. "Don't tempt me Nessie." He murmured into her hair before walking away from her, leaving Vanessa fighting to return her pulse to normal and praying that the color in her cheeks would subside before anyone found her...

**A/N Okay so now that you've read it, be kind give me some love - Reviews mean I post faster... xox **


	2. Pieces of Puzzle

**Disclaimer: I dont own anything CSI Miami however Vanessa Pedrosa is my own creation as are any others you don't recognise.**

"Sorry to keep you waiting detective…Eric found a couple of hand guns and I had to enter them into the evidence locker, then I ran into Gillespie from nights who wanted an update on some ballistics evidence…" Calleigh trailed off looking over at Vanessa curiously. "Are you alright detective, you look a little flushed?" Calleigh's concern for her colleague was endearing yet unnecessary. Vanessa forced a smile and once more tried to wish away her rosy cheeks…damn her Irish ancestry. "Any luck on the cell phone Calleigh?" Vanessa inquired abruptly changing the subject. "The cell phone is registered to a legal firm not to a particular individual. I can't get a hold of a senior partner or accounting department at this time of night so the cell will need to wait till the morning." Calleigh said a little annoyed, she hated having to wait on external departments for evidence to make sense. "Okay so what else do we have?" Vanessa asked as Calleigh pulled open the file. Vanessa looked over a few things before her eyes settled on the photo of the parking stub. "I think I know where we can start, feel like getting out of the lab for a while?"

Vanessa pulled up outside a new glass fronted building, the name emblazoned across the bulkhead…_Fleur de Lis_. "Hey I've heard of this place." Calleigh said looking over the front of the building, "This place got great reviews in Dade Distinctions. How do you know the stubs are from here?" Calleigh asked. Vanessa made her way towards the front entrance replying, "I recognized the watermark on the stub." Calleigh's right eyebrow shot up, "You've been here before? I thought this place was notoriously difficult to get into." Vanessa just grinned, "It is."

They walked through the foyer of the exclusive restaurant, straight to the host's podium. "I'm sorry we're no longer serving tonight, I can recommend you return tomorrow." The hostess told them looking over them with disdain, not thinking they met the caliber of their usual clientele. "I'd like to speak to the manager please…Leslie." The young woman looked at Vanessa annoyed, barely refraining from rolling her eyes. "We are no longer serving tonight; we open again tomorrow at 7pm." The girl told her attempting to direct them back outside. Vanessa flashed her badge "I can't wait, I need to see the manager now or I'll charge you with obstruction." Vanessa smiled coolly. The girl stalked off to return a few moments later accompanied by the manager. The manager towered over both Vanessa and Calleigh he must have been well over 6'4", blonde hair, well cut suit gold wedding band, Miami tan and perfectly capped white teeth. "Bradley Cooper. How can I help Miami's finest?" He asked them warmly. Vanessa held up the parking stub in its clear evidence bag. "We are investigating a suspicious death that occurred earlier this evening; this was found with our victim." Calleigh watched as he looked at the stub. "How terrible…well this is definitely one of our stubs. If you detectives would like to head through to the bar, I'll have the head of our valet service meet you there." He showed them through to the bar before leaving them for a moment.

"Get a look at this place. It's like it was just picked up in Paris and plonked down in Miami." Calleigh noted looking around at the ornate room – everything from the chandelier down the flatware screamed money not to mention the antiques and artwork. "Is that an original Monet?" Calleigh gasped looking out towards the dining area. The head of valet met them and they showed him the stub and the photograph of their victim. "She's dead?" He asked, paling slightly. Calleigh nodded. "She was a nice lady, gave me a big tip just to park the car she said it was her lucky night." He told them handing back the photograph. "How big of a tip?" Vanessa asked. "100 – I told her it was too much but she insisted." "Do you know if she met anyone here?" Vanessa asked quickly. "Yeah I went inside to take my break not long after I parked her car and she was sitting at the bar with a guy. Maybe a little older than she was, dark wavy hair, fly suit, lots of bling. We parked a porche 911 for him." "We'll need the details for both of those cars." Calleigh told him. "Give me a minute." He came back a few minutes later with the info they needed including a copy of the security footage and printed stills of the 2 cars arriving and leaving.

"Okay I've got an APB sent out for both vehicles and information on the registered owner of the Porche 911." Vanessa told Horatio as they walked down the corridor of the crime lab. "Registered owner is listed as Mateo Bataldo, 39 lives in the Gables. Only criminal history is a charge for exceeding the speed limit, was the victim of home invasion 5 years ago, the suspect was caught and convicted. Calleigh and I found a credit receipt from Mr Bataldo's charge card for a dinner for two at Fleur De Lis." Horatio nodded looking across at Vanessa, "Let's go pay Mr Bataldo a visit shall we." He held the door open for Vanessa as they exited the building.

Vanessa looked around the foyer of Mateo Bataldo's home as she and Horatio waited for his assistant to fetch him. She looked around at the photographs on the wall and saw several of them featured their victim. "Horatio." She called out to him indicating a large photograph prominently displayed over an elegantly carved coffee table. Horatio didn't comment - he merely nodded as his attention was diverted to the man descending the large marble staircase. "Mateo Bataldo?" Horatio asked once he was close to where they were standing. "Yes, please call me Matt. My assistant Gregory said you had some questions for me Lieutenant. How can I help you?" He asked showing them into a formal sitting room. The three of them sat in the plush velvet suite, Mr Bataldo in a wing chair directly across from Horatio and Vanessa on the chaise. "I believe you dined at Fleur De Lis this evening." "Yes that is correct. I had dinner with my wife. What is this about Detectives?" Vanessa looked over at Matt, watching him very closely she noticed that he appeared very calm, relaxed he didn't shift his weight, glance around nervously – he didn't give her the impression that he had anything to hide. "Is your wife here Mr Bataldo? We'd like to speak with her." If Horatio found Vanessa's line of questioning strange he made no move to give away his thoughts.

Matt looked down at his lap, twisting his wedding band. "My wife and I…we don't live together. I'm expecting her to arrive at some point, she got called away from dinner but we arranged to meet here to finish our discussion." Horatio and Vanessa looked at each other quickly and Matt began to get agitated. "Oh my god, has something happened to Lucia?" He asked them quickly, leaning toward them eagerly. Horatio pulled out an 8x10 photograph and held it out to Mr Bataldo. "Is this your wife?" He asked gently. Matt took the image with shaking hands, he looked at it and all of the color drained from his face, he began to shake and cry. Vanessa moved closer to him, her hand resting lightly on his. "Mr Bataldo?" she prompted gently. "What happened to my Lucia?" He cried out causing his assistant to come running into the room.

"Matt? What the hell is going on here?" Gregory got a glimpse of the photograph and immediately understood. "Matt, oh god, I'm so sorry." He crouched down next to his boss gently removing the photo from his hands and passing it back to the detectives. "What time did you arrive home from dinner Matt?" Horatio asked. "It was after 9, I'm not exactly sure. Who did this to Lucy?" he buried his head in his hands sobbing heavily. "It was about 9:20, I was just calling Senator Redfern to confirm his appointment for Thursday." Gregory supplied. Horatio nodded, "What were you and Lucia discussing at the restaurant?" Vanessa asked gently. "We were reconciling. We were separated, she had filed for divorce but I couldn't sign the papers. We've been going to counseling, working things through." He looked up at Vanessa his eyes pleading with her. "We had decided to start again, she was coming home. Who would have done this to my Lucia?" "That's what we're here to find out." Horatio informed him.

Back at the lab Horatio sought out the members of his team looking for updates. First step on his trail was the Trace Lab. He found Speedle hunched over a comparison microscope, jotting down notes on the legal pad to his right. Speedle began giving his report before he even looked up from the microscope – he knew it was Horatio; there was no mistaking those soft foot falls for anyone else. "I pulled some fibers from the victim's clothing; they're trilobal and a match to the upholstery in her car. Local PD spotted it abandoned not far from the swamp - Delko's processing it now. I also found an oily residue in the fabric of her jacket I'm running it through the Mass-Spec now to try get a manufacturer." Speed looked over at his boss gauging his reaction to the evidence presented to him. Horatio's face remained the same mask of impeccable calm and concentration however Speed noticed the minute shift in his eyes – he knew that now they had the first piece of the puzzle the tenacious investigator would not let the case go until it had been closed and Lucia's killer was imprisoned. "Good work Speed. I wanna know what that oil is used for and how she came in contact with it. Keep me posted."

Horatio entered the cool sterile autopsy suite, immediately spotting Alexx at one of the cold, steel tables with their victim. Horatio made his way quietly towards her standing close at her side as she finished cleansing the body. "Lucia Antonia Bataldo." He spoke quietly, his eyes never leaving the pale face of the woman on the table. "Lucia…oh sugar what a beautiful name. Did we find her family, has she got someone to go home to?" Alexx asked as she immediately began changing the body's identification from Jane Doe #86913 to Lucia Bataldo.

"Tell me about our victim Alexx."

"Horatio this girl was a fighter. I got skin samples from underneath her fingernails, looks like she caught a chunk of whoever was after her. I sent it off to DNA. I put time of death at approximately 8pm."

Horatio nodded looking over Lucia Bataldo's corpse, "8pm…okay she met her husband for dinner at 7:15 so that was an extremely fast meal. Cause of death?"

"Blunt force trauma to the base of the skull. Hit was hard enough to fracture the skull which pierced the occipital lobe. She bled into her brain. The pressure built up, eventually she ran out of room inside her skull and her brain was forced down into her spinal cord. She also sustained fractures to the ulna and radius on the right and several metacarpals on the left."

"Defensive wounds." Horatio stated.

"Uh huh. Our killer took two hits at the skull. The first hit wasn't hard enough to fracture it. It would have made our girl here see stars but it wasn't enough to kill her. Second hit took care of that. I made casts of the wounds sent them off to Calleigh to see if she could match it to anything." Horatio nodded still looking down at Lucia and imagining the struggle she went through to fight for her life only hours before hand.

"One last thing Horatio – she was still alive when she went into the water."

"How can you tell Alexx?"

"See the small area on Lucia's left ankle where the tissue is missing…these edges here indicate that there was blood flowing to the epidermis and muscle tissue when whatever it was took a bite outta our girl. There is no water in her lungs so she managed to stay on her back whilst she was still breathing."

"Could she have survived a head injury like this in normal circumstances?" Horatio asked quickly.

"Define normal honey." Alexx commented ruefully. "If she had've received immediate medical care, there might have been a chance at recovery although she would never have been the same woman again – the injury to the brain itself was too severe."

"Thank you Alexx."

"Anytime Horatio." She told him gently stroking back Lucia's blonde hair.

Calleigh was sitting at a station in the ballistics lab, her long blonde hair neatly pinned back, as she looked over the three guns that Eric had removed from the swamp as Horatio entered the lab. "Well we know our victim wasn't shot so I'm holding off doing a test fire but when I do I'll run them through the system see if they pop up belonging to any other unsolved cases. At first glance these pistols have been in the water far too long to have been our murder weapon." Calleigh informed him looking down at the wound cast in front of her. Horatio looked across at the casts she had made from the pistols and saw that they were too small to have caused the injury to their victim.

"Eric didn't find anything else in the water that might have been our weapon so you know what that means Calleigh." He looked across at the eager ballistics expert, watching the enthusiasm clearly etched across her face.

"Weapons vault." She beamed at him with her million watt smile. "I'll make casts of anything that might have been used."

"Let me know what you find."

"You know I will Horatio." Horatio indulged her in a brief smile, having little doubt that the moment Calleigh confirmed her findings she be hitting his speed dial button to share the news.

**_A/N - Okay folks thanks for reading please, please, please leave me some LOVE! A review (even if t is just a critique) will boost my writers ego immensly and make sure chapter three makes a speedy appearance for you fanfic reading pleasure xox _**


	3. Sounds Like A Motive

**Disclaimer: I do't own anything CSI Miami. Vanessa Pedrosa is my original creation.**

**Please be kind folks, Read & Review!**

Dawn came early in Miami and insisted upon making its presences known to all. Vanessa was practically squinting as the bright orange glare poured through Horatio's second floor corner office. "Okay Vanessa how did Mr Bataldo's alibi hold up?" Horatio asked her gently placing a cup of steaming hot coffee in front of his colleague. "Thanks. Okay, his alibi checks out. Bataldo left the restaurant at 9.05pm – he stayed back after his wife left, he ordered a scotch neat and drank it. He then proceeded to his house in the Gables after making a brief stop at the office to collect a file. We have the electronic entry from his access card for 9:13pm in and a 9:16pm exit. He could have easily made it from the office to home and arrived at 9:20pm."

Horatio frowned slightly. "Lucia was already dead by the time Bataldo left the restaurant. Have we got any other leads as to who would want to harm Mrs Bataldo."

"Well, I did some digging and found out the reason for the separation and pending divorce. Lucia caught her husband having an affair with his business manager."

"He wouldn't be the first man to do that."

"There's more. Mateo's business manager was one Michelle Kirkland who until the time that their affair became public was also a close friend of Lucia Bataldo."

"That is interesting? What happened once the affair was out in the open?" Horatio inquired softly, Vanessa could see that his mind was hard at work trying to piece this information into what they already knew.

"Lucia was furious that her friend and her husband had betrayed her – she had been confiding to Michelle her fears that Mateo was stepping out on her. Lucia made allegations to the taxation department regarding Michelle Kirkland's finances, the result was almost financial ruin for Kirkland. Turns out she had been receiving kickbacks from clients and not declaring them as income. She owed over a million dollars in unpaid taxes. Apparently, Mateo severed all contact with Kirkland and hired a new male business manager. He took out an injunction against Kirkland preventing her from coming within 300 meters of his home, business or person."

"That sounds like motive to me."

"I thought so too so I went a head and interviewed Kirkland, her alibi is rock solid there is no way that she could have murdered Lucia." Vanessa sat back deflated, it had been a long hard night and for every step forward she took she had to back track another three. This case was going know where and fast.

"What was her alibi?" Horatio asked curiously.

"You're going to love this H. She was at Dade-Memorial, she'd been brought in to the ER early afternoon after an attempted suicide. They have her on a 24 hour watch at the moment."

"How serious was the attempt?"

"I spoke to ER staff, they told me if her boyfriends had come home just a few minutes later, Michelle would have been dead."

Horatio turned away from Vanessa to look out the expanse of glass which provided him beautiful views of the orange sun rising up over the strip of beach a few hundred yards from the crime lab. This case was severely frustrating – every time they thought they had a lead it went no where. The physical evidence was circumstantial at this point and so far hadn't lead them towards an accurate suspect or scenario. Horatio knew that the physical evidence was the key to solving this murder however he had no idea how to get the answers he needed.

Both investigators took a moment to review the evidence available in the case. There just wasn't enough information to give them a solid lead – if they made a move before the rest of the evidence was analyzed it would have to be based on intuition or merely just a stab in the dark. "We need more evidence Horatio…I don't know where to go next." Vanessa admitted in exasperation. As if on cue Horatio's cell phone chirped, he answered it quickly. "Okay Speed, we'll be right there."

"What have you got for us Speed?" Vanessa asked lounging across the trace lab bench eager to hear that their case finally had a definite direction to go in. Speed rubbed a hand across his weary face, his ever present 5 o'clock shadow was rapidly becoming a beard and he had the unhealthy complexion of someone who hasn't slept for nearly 48 hours. Speed looked across at Vanessa and saw his own bone aching tiredness echoed in her pale face, the way her pony tail was disheveled told him that she had obviously pulled it out and retied it several times in the last few hours. She was still wearing the slinky grey cocktail dress, refusing to take time out of the investigation to go home and change.

"I ran the oily residue found on our victim's jacket through the Mass-Spec I got back a type of motor oil used for high powered, high end motor boats. The composition of the motor oil is specific to only a few engine makes."

"This is sounding promising." Horatio noted.

"Oh it gets better. One of the engines is specific to the 2004 Dominator 68 S yacht – the exact same make and model of the yacht currently owned by Mr Mateo Bataldo."

Horatio's eyes lit up and Vanessa forgot all about her lack of sleep, they finally had a new lead. "Let's go see a man about a boat shall we."

Out at the Bataldo's yacht club slip Horatio, Vanessa, Speed and Eric were all aboard the 'Vero Amore' searching for evidence that Lucia Bataldo was on board the opulent yacht the nigh she died. "The works please gentlemen." Were Horatio's only instructions upon boarding. Mateo had declined Horatio's offer of being present whilst the search was conducted, he admitted that he could not face the thought of being there whilst they tore apart his boat to look for evidence that he had murdered the only woman he'd ever loved.

Vanessa stood on the deck of the boat looking out across the water, watching the sunlight glint on top of the bobbing waves. A soft easterly breeze blew across her skin and she felt a calm flood over her – they were going to close this case, she knew it. She could feel it in her gut – somewhere on this magnificent boat was the evidence that would put someone away for their inhumane treatment of Lucia Bataldo. She turned around watching for a moment as Eric dusted surfaces for finger prints, Speedle was inspecting the flooring looking for footprints or trace evidence and photographing the scene, Horatio was moving room to room looking for any indication of blood or body fluids which could lead them closer to a suspect.

As soon as Horatio entered the lavish state room the ALS illuminated several strange iridescent shapes on and around the bed. He began moving around the room taking samples and photographs when the others entered the room crowding in the stateroom doorway.

"Looks like someone had one hell of a party in here." Speedle noted looking around at the amount of body fluid smeared around the king sized bed. There were iridescent patches on top of the silk bed spread, all over the Egyptian cotton sheets and even on the thick pile carpet. Horatio removed his orange goggles and looked across at his team his dark blue eyes alight.

"Let's see if we can't find out who our guests of honor were."

.


	4. Best Interests

**Disclaimer: I don't own aything CSI Miami however Vanessa Pedrosa is my own creation.**

Vanessa sat at the steel desk inside the glass encase interview room at the Miami-Dade Crime lab calmly flicking through the file in front of her. She didn't make a sound, didn't acknowledge the presence of the man sitting across the table from her as she continued to peruse the file she already knew inside out. "Are we just going to sit here?" The man demanded angrily. "Lieutenant Caine is on his way." Vanessa stated still refusing to look up from her file. She could tell the man on the side of the table was uncomfortable; he fidgeted in his chair, straightened his tie and ran his hand across his closely cropped thin hair.

They had been sitting there for the last 20 minutes and it was at least another 5 minutes before Lieutenant Caine entered the room. He looked directly at Vanessa. "Detective?" he inquired not voicing his question, it wasn't necessary Vanessa knew what he was asking and shook her head in reply. "What the hell is going on? Why am I here?" Their suspect erupted shoving his chair back and standing over them palms flat against the table top. "Lucia Bataldo." Horatio replied calmly his hands on his slim hips as he stared intensely at their suspect. Their suspect let all but deflated before their eyes – gone was his arrogant, aggressive demeanor as he sank back down into his seat. "I see the name rings a bell Mr Dandridge." Dandridge said nothing he merely looked down at his hands in his lap, Vanessa could see him struggling to gain his composure.

"We know what you did Aaron, I've got a whole file of forensic evidence here that proves you killed Lucia Bataldo."

"No you can't…Why are you doing this to me?"

"You've done it to yourself Aaron." Vanessa told him as she began to slide photographs across the table. "This is the Vero Amore, Mateo Bataldo's luxury yacht. Inside the yacht we found your fingerprints every where. Your semen all over that king sized bed. Your foot prints at the deck railing."

"Yes I was on the yacht. I borrowed it from Bataldo! He's a friend."

"You borrowed his boat then killed his wife? I don't think you understand the concept of friendship." Horatio quipped.

"I haven't done anything wrong!"

"Let me lay it out for you Dandridge. Five days ago you borrowed the Bataldo's yacht, you took Michelle Kirkland as your companion. Perhaps it was supposed to be a romantic getaway but that didn't go to plan did it? You and Michelle fought, she slapped you, slip you lip open." Vanessa began painting the picture for him. "On Thursday afternoon you left your squash game early arriving home to find your girlfriend Michelle Kirkland had attempted suicide in you living room. You rushed her to the ER, you saved her life."

"But something snapped didn't it Aaron, when you saw your girlfriend dying, wanting to take her own life. You called Lucia at 7:45pm, insisted she meet with you straight away. I don't know how you convinced her to but she did. She met you at your office; you took her in your car to the yacht." Horatio paused waiting for a response from his suspect but there was nothing. "Once you were on the yacht you confronted Lucia about Michelle and Mateo – an argument ensued."

"You became physically aggressive, she scratched and clawed at you to let her go. It would have been at this point that you grabbed the statuette and struck her the first time." Still no reply from the suspect but Vanessa could tell the scene was replaying in his mind.

"_They are playing us both! They haven't ended it – Michelle admitted it to me!"_

"_No Aaron, it's over. Mateo wants nothing to do with that tramp – we've reconciled, we're trying for a baby! Nothing is going to come between us again." He saw the look in her eyes as she said it – it was the exact same starry eyed look that Michelle got whenever she talked about Mateo. It drove him to the brink; his blood boiled, there was no way to contain his rage. He grabbed her, his strong hands like a vice on her soft upper arms. "She's not a tramp! Take it back!" He screamed in her face, spittle flying in all directions. _

_Lucia began to struggle twisting her body, attempting to escape his grasp. "She seduced my husband! She almost ruined my marriage!" Lucia had squealed in his face as she clawed at him desperately trying to break free. _

"_Your husband ruined her! She tried to take her own life!"_

"_I hope she succeeded!" Lucia screamed as she finally broke free. _

_She didn't see Aaron swinging the statuette until it was too late to move, she was frozen in place as the heavy pewter figurine came crashing into her skull. Everything went black for a brief moment as she struggled to keep her footing – she began to run blindly her vision clouded. Cool breeze caressed her heated skin, she'd reached the deck. Lucia knew that she had to get off the boat, she had to get help. Even as that thought crossed her mind Aaron caught up with her and brought the figurine crashing into her skull with obscene force. Aaron stood above her, breathing raggedly as he watched her twitch and fit as a crimson puddle blossomed beneath Lucia's skull. It was long minutes later before he realized exactly what he'd done. _

_He started up the yacht, heading away from the marina – he knew he had to dispose of the body. He knew exactly where to go to ensure that she was found swiftly. Once Lucia was off the yacht he returned to the deck scrubbing away her blood before returning to the stateroom. He had showered, changed his clothes and cleaned down the statuette, ensuring that the room was exactly the way he'd found it before returning to the marina. He drove his own car back to the office then drove Lucia's car some miles away where he pocketed the keys and made it look like the car had been stolen. From there he'd walked for an hour in the dark before calling a cab to return him to the hospital. _

"Mr Dandridge?" Vanessa spoke his name for the third time watching as he came back to the present. "I killed her." He spoke softly looking across at the detectives sadly. "He already has everything – a beautiful wife, a two million dollar yacht, success, fortune, fame and he wanted Michelle as well. No he can't have her, he has enough already!"

"So you killed his wife?"

"What did you expect me to do!" he cried.

"Be the bigger man, walk away." Horatio recommended.

"I couldn't let him have Michelle too…I need her, I'm nothing without her." Aaron whimpered as tear trailed down his round cheeks.

"Well Mr Dandridge I guess you really are nothing now. Michelle Kirkland died an hour ago." Vanessa broke the news as gently as she could manage. Dandridge's face crumpled his head fell into his hands as he sobbed heavily, his body trembling with every forced breath. Vanessa and Horatio left the room as two uniformed officers entered and placed Aaron Dandridge under arrest for the murder of Lucia Bataldo.

Vanessa walked out across the brightly lit car park, trying to remember where she'd parked her car more than 24 hours earlier. She scanned the lot for a full minute before realizing she hadn't actually driven her car to the lab…she'd taken a cab to the crime scene and caught a lift back to the lab with Delko. She blew out an exasperated sigh glancing around trying to figure out what to do next. Catching another cab at this late hour didn't appeal to her but short of going back inside and asking a uniformed officer to drop her home it was her only option.

"Need a lift?" Vanessa jumped slightly, startled by the familiar deep voice calling to her.

"Are you driving? Because I'd like to get home alive you know." She teased him grinning and watching as he stretched out against his vehicle, his long legs crossed at the ankles, his eyes watching her intently as she walked towards him.

"What are you still doing here?" Vanessa asked stopping just short of him.

"There is this knockout detective who works here occasionally; I was hoping to get a few minutes alone with her."

"Oh yeah, why's that?"

"Well you see we tried to be a normal couple and go out on a date but that plan didn't really work for us, we got interrupted by a crime scene. I thought I might try make it up to her."

"How do you plan on doing that?" Vanessa asked coyly.

"First I'll give her a lift home." He said, standing up and wrapping his arms gently around her waist.

"Mm hmm. Then what?"

"Maybe a glass of wine and a long hot shower before we fall into bed." Vanessa felt his strong hands let her go only to tenderly brush her hair back and cup her face gently - his intense eyes still never leaving hers.

"What makes you think that she's just going to fall in bed with you?" Vanessa challenged.

"Because I know you can't resist me." He grinned cheekily. Leaning in and kissing her hotly – she gave no resistance, melting into him instantly as their mouths danced a brisk tango.

"I hate it when you're right." She whispered as he pulled away, her lips instantly missing the warmth of his.

"Come on Nessie, I'll get you home in one piece."

Vanessa frowned, "You know if I ride that thing home, not only am I going to freeze to death but my dress is going to turn into a scarf before we get a mile down the road." She gestured at her rather inappropriate clothing for his choice of transport.

"Here, put this on." He told her, slipping his jacket around her slim shoulders and zipping it up.

"You'll just have to stay close to me." Vanessa shot him an incredulous look.

"Hey I have your best interests at heart babe." He reassured her smirking as he threw his leg over the frame of his hot yellow Ducati motorcycle and started up its throaty engine.

Vanessa looked at him hesitantly for a moment longer, this really was madness. "Come on Nessie, get on the bike." He prompted, reaching his hand out to her to help her get onto the bike. Vanessa caught his grin as she threw her leg over the wide frame she knew he'd been able to see up her skirt in the wing mirror.

"Timothy Speedle, don't make me hurt you!" She threatened. Tim half twisted around on the bike and pressed another kiss to her already swollen lips.

"How do you know I won't like it?" Speed teased over the roar of the engine. He took off suddenly causing Vanessa to let out a little high pitched squeal and cling tighter to his body. God he loved taking her for a ride…

**A/N - Okay so what did you think? Please read & review, every author needs a little reader LOVE! Stay tune folks this won't be the last you hear from me I have BIG plans for Vanessa... xOx Reluctant Flame xOx**

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	5. Keeping Secrets

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything CSI Miami, this is not for profit, just for fun...Vanessa Pedrosa is a figment of my own imagination.**

**A/N: Many thanks to Yoda11, Bmangka & Prisca512 thanks for the love!**

Calleigh walked towards the trace lab not really having any real reason to be there other than to pester Speedle with some more questions about who he was dating…it wasn't that she wanted to know so that she could spread gossip all through the department, it was more about knowing that whoever the woman was that she was right for her close friend. She noticed Detective Pedrosa was also in the lab, no doubt getting brought up to date on the details of the case she was working with the team. Earlier in the morning a team of three men had attempted an armed robbery on Dade Mutual Funds. The attack had been foiled by a nearby patrol unit leaving one of the suspects dead and two others in the wind. Calleigh smiled slightly, realizing that Vanessa being there would probably work to her advantage – they could gang up on Tim, he'd have to tell them eventually.

"Has he told you yet?" Calleigh demanded looking between her two colleagues expectantly, not phased that she'd interrupted Vanessa mid-sentence.

"Has who told me what?" Vanessa inquired politely.

"Well, I have it from a reliable source that our trace expert here was called away from a date to attend the Bataldo case last week. Now seeing as my source was Tim himself I'm a little bewildered as to why there haven't been any more details. For the life of me I can't think why he won't tell me who the lucky woman is." Calleigh ranted, she hated being left out of the loop. Eric obviously knew about Speedle's date but despite all of her best efforts and countless feminine wiles she couldn't get him to tell her either.

Vanessa tilted her head to the side slightly and looked at Speedle carefully.

"A date? Are you keeping secrets Speed?"

"Absolutely." He said, completely dead pan. "Now what does a man need to do to get a little work done in his own lab? Have you forgotten we are trying to solve a case here?" He chastised them halfheartedly.

"Hey I'm multi-tasking." Calleigh protested.

Speed raised his thick dark eyebrow questioningly.

"I am. I'm grilling you while I wait for my results from DNA." Calleigh stood her ground for a moment longer before sighing and walking away. "I'm gonna find out eventually, resistance is futile." She warned before exiting the lab.

Vanessa broke out laughing the second Calleigh was out of sight.

"Are you scared?" She managed to ask between breaths.

"Nah, she's all talk she won't figure it out."

"How can you be so sure?" Vanessa challenged.

"She's had 6 months to figure it out and only now does she know that I'm seeing some one. Trust me she has no idea it's you." Tim indulged Vanessa is a slow grin, his brown eyes sparkling mischievously.

"Are you working tonight?" Speed asked as he lightly toyed with Vanessa's fingers.

"No I have tonight off. Come around when you're finished for the shift?" she asked him coyly.

"You bet babe." He promised giving her hand an extra squeeze before reluctantly letting her go. He watched her walking away from the trace lab until he couldn't see her anymore – all the time a goofy grin plastered on his face.

"Dude pick your jaw up off of the floor, we've got work to do." Delko laughed.

* * *

Calleigh sat in the break room sipping slowly on a cup of chamomile tea as she thought about the meager evidence she'd collected. She knew that the woman in question had to be somehow involved in the work they did at the crime lab – other wise there would be no way Speedle would be discussing case evidence with her. Calleigh knew that they had been dating for a while but not exactly how long nor how serious it was – God, Tim wouldn't even tell her that! Did he not trust her anymore!

Calleigh had very few facts and too many possibilities – it shouldn't bother her this much that he was seeing someone…if she was being honest it wasn't that that bothered her but the fact that he didn't seem to trust her with the information. She'd tried asking him directly, she'd tried being coy and attempted to trick it out of him…her last weapon was truly a last resort, she knew it would work – it had always worked in the past. Calleigh flicked her curtain of white blonde hair back behind her shoulder and strode into the fingerprints lab.

"Eric could you tell me…"

"Calleigh give it up, I'm not telling you who Speedle is dating." Eric cut her off grinning slightly. Her incessant questions were driving him nuts but he loved knowing something she didn't.

"Eric could you please tell me if any of the prints we recovered at the Dade-Mutual Funds heist gave us any suspects from CODIS?" Calleigh requested not giving him the chance to interrupt her again. Eric looked over at her surprised, he'd forgotten that she had legitimate cases to ask – she wasn't just playing Nancy Drew with Speedle's love life.

"Sure thing Cal. Ahh, two prints came back as possibles. Thomas McDowd, 34 long history of armed hold ups, last paroled in 2001. Also Patrick Keener, 28 computer hacker from U of M. He got into trouble a few years back for hacking into the university database and selling female students phone numbers to the highest bidders. Coincidentally it was Keener's blood we found leading away from the bank."

"Thanks Eric." Calleigh started to walk out of the lab giving off just the right mixture of nonchalance and mild affront she barely got as far as the doorway before Eric called out to her.

"Calleigh! Look, I'm sorry I jumped the gun – I just thought…"

"I know what you though Eric." Calleigh looked away from him for a few calculated seconds. "I didn't like not knowing is all, but now I do and it's none of my business. What they get up to on their own time is their own business." Eric just watched dumbfounded as Calleigh walked away from him; he had no idea that she was grinning from ear to ear. He jogged to catch up with her following her wordlessly to the break room before pushing her any further.

"So now that you know, you're okay with it?" Eric asked her again still not sure he was believing what he was hearing.

"Of course I am Eric – Tim is my friend, I just want him to be happy."

"I just thought seeing as they are both friends of ours it might be a little weird."

"Why Eric? To be honest I don't know why I didn't see it sooner – they're good for each other. Tim's the happiest I've seen him in months."

"You know I think I caught him singing in the lab the other day." Eric laughed. It was like a weight was lifted off his shoulders, he hated keeping things from Calleigh, even something as seemingly innocuous as who his best friend was dating.

"You know Cal it's not like they were keeping it just from you – Speed tried to keep it from me too…" Calleigh rested her hand on top of Delko's, giving it a friendly squeeze.

"It's okay Eric, really – I understand…they wanted their privacy. I'd be exactly the same."

"Yeah but I have no idea how they managed to keep it quiet for so long, I mean Vanessa's face is such a billboard, especially when she gets caught in a lie."

"Vanessa?" Calleigh squeaked. She couldn't help it, hadn't meant to give away that she'd really had no idea who Delko was talking about. "Vanessa?! Tim and Vanessa?" Calleigh couldn't stop asking – this she hadn't seen coming, not from a mile off – she hadn't had even the slightest of inklings.

"Who did you think I was talking about Calleigh?" Realization settled across Delko's face. "You just played me Calleigh!" He accused angrily – Speed was going to eat him alive for this.

"No, I thought it was that new night shift woman – Rhonda from toxicology!."

"Rhonda?" Eric asked confused. "The tall redhead? Calleigh she has a girlfriend…"

"She has a girl…oh!" Calleigh breathed as the implications of what Eric told her sunk in.

Of all the people she had thought Tim might be seeing, Vanessa didn't even make her top ten. How could she have missed that? Vanessa and Calleigh had been getting closer over the last few months, their professional relationship extending more towards a personal friendship. Calleigh couldn't believe she'd been blind sided. In amongst the wonder of it all, if Calleigh was being truly honest with herself she was also feeling a little hurt. Why hadn't Vanessa told her this herself?

Vanessa breezed into the break room smiling broadly when she saw Calleigh. "Just the woman I was looking for! I feel the need for a girl's night out, first round is on me. What do you think?"

"You sure you don't want to let everyone else know before me? Maybe even check with Tim first?" Calleigh asked snidely before stalking out of the lab not looking at her supposed friend once.

Vanessa threw Eric a look, he knew he was in definite trouble.

"I thought she knew!" He protested giving her his best puppy dog eyes and holding his hands out as if to say don't hurt me, I'm innocent.

"What part of I'm telling Calleigh tonight made you think she knew already?" She demanded peevishly.

* * *

Calleigh avoided Vanessa's phone calls for the rest of the shift – she didn't know exactly why but she felt it was important that she did. She was making a stand, she'd decided. They'd made her look like an idiot – Vanessa andTim even Eric. Why hadn't they trusted her with the hush, hush information that Vanessa and Tim were seeing each other? She couldn't really see what the big deal was anyway. In the almost ten years that Calleigh had been with the Miami-Dade crime lab she had seen her fair share of inter-office relationships…Vanessa and Tim's didn't even count! She was MDPD not crime lab – fair enough they were both employed by the county but honestly what was all the fuss and bother about!

She watched as her cell chirped for the eighth time in ten minutes but she resolutely refused to answer. She watched the glowing screen fade as the call went unanswered. She turned back to her locker, pulling out her slim fitted leather jacket and shrugging it on. The message tone went of on her cell. She stared at it for a moment before sighing, pressing the playback button and holding it to her ear.

'Hey Cal, it's Vanessa…I know you don't like me much right now but I have our table at Rouge and an extra big cosmo coming with your name on … don't make me drink it, you know how silly I get on these things. Look, it's 7:30 now and if you don't get here soon, I'm going to be the sad, old, drunk lady hogging the hottest table in here … Someone might attack me for this perfect view…hurry. I'll see you soon?'

Calleigh sighed heavily as she slid onto the red leather stool across from Vanessa her face unreadable as she stated, "This does not mean I forgive you!"

"Peace offering?" Vanessa smiled weakly nudging across the promised fruity cocktail. Calleigh said nothing but took a slow sip of the sweet but tart drink.

"I know I was an idiot, I should have told you sooner…"

"So why didn't you?"

"Oh Calleigh, I don't think you realize it but you are like Tim's over protective sister…I mean that in the best way possible." Vanessa added hastily to avoid offending Calleigh any further.

"Look it's just, I worked so hard to get you guys to trust me in the first place okay and I really felt like, I don't know Calleigh, I felt like you and I had moved beyond just being colleagues and became actual friends."

"I thought we had." Calleigh snipped and instantly regretted it when she saw the hurt look flash in Vanessa's eyes.

"You know Calleigh we are in such a male dominated arena, I guess I just didn't want you to think of me as one of those women who can't work with men without falling into bed with them…I can't stand those women and this thing with Speedle it – it caught me completely off guard. I wasn't looking for it, it just found me. He kinda wheedled his way under my skin ya know?"

"Why didn't you just tell me?"

"Because I was so sure that I was going to ruin this beautiful thing I have with Speed and I knew when I did, that the lines were already drawn in the sand. Look Calleigh you've known Tim for a long time so obviously if anything were to go wrong he is where your loyalty would lie, and rightly so. I was being a stupid, insecure girl." Vanessa admitted.

Calleigh couldn't help but grin at her, "You are a goose, you know that right?" she laughed. Vanessa nodded sheepishly.

"Do you realize just how much gossip you owe me!" Calleigh laughed and Vanessa could not have been more pleased.

* * *

Several hours and about three or four cosmopolitans later Vanessa crawled into bed with Speedle snuggling into his wam body and gently kissing his chest.

"How did it go?" He asked his voice reverberating through Vanessa's body.

"We kissed and made up."

"Damn it, I knew I should have gone!" Speed sounded disappointed.

"Down boy!" Vanessa giggled stroking his broad chest rhythmically. "You know Calleigh is going to have words with you yet." She reminded him, her big blue eyes finding his – he offered her a bright cheeky grin.

"Don't worry your pretty head over me, I can take whatever she'll dish out." He reassured her placing a kiss on the crown of her head.

**A/N Okay so this chapter was a little light, a bit of fluff but hey a little fluff goes a looong way. I want to make sure you get a feel for Vanessa before I turn her world upsode down and bring on the heavy angst...got you intrigued yet? Stay tuned there is definately moe coming at you!**

**As always please review, leave me a critique, a comment...sme love - I'm drives my muse wild and she goes into over drive & YOU get chapters faster.**

**xOx xOx**


	6. Dispo Day

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything CS Miami - Vanessa Pedrosa is my own invention.**

**This chapter contains spoilers for "Dispo Day"**

Tim closed his eyes trying to concentrate on his breathing, tried without success to lower his heart rate to an acceptable level. He could still hear the cacophony of noise ringing in his ears – the bullets striking the Hummer, Hollis's head exploding, the assorted yelling and swearing he muffled whump as the bullet slammed into his chest. He could remember lying on the slick asphalt struggling to breathe as the sounds of the motorcade evaporated…Horatio's concerned face filled his field of vision as his mentor called his name repeatedly.

_"Speed! Speed. Hold on brother, let me see, I think you've been hit." Horatio's hands ripped open his shirt, searching, hoping, praying._

_"My chest…My chest." Speed had managed to gasp between shallow ragged breaths._

_"All right, hold on. Wait, wai-wai-wait…the Kevlar caught it. The Kevlar caught it, man."_

_Tim struggled to breathe trying to comprehend what Horatio was saying. If the Kevlar had caught the bullet how was it that he couldn't breathe? How was it possible that he felt as though his chest had been crushed?_

_"Now just breathe. Breathe easy. Keep breathing if you can, please." Horatio knelt next to his friend his hand reassuring on his chest, his eyes never leaving Tim's panic stricken face as he screamed for somebody to get rescue._

_"Rescue! Get me rescue right now!" he demanded across the scene as he stayed with his fallen colleague trying to reassure him, to provide him with some measure of comfort._

Tim's body ached – an ever present weight laid heavy on his chest, he wasn't entirely convinced it was due to where the bullet struck him. His hands still trembled. He was trying to calm down but his mind still reeling from the disastrous events of the morning. He'd left the house pleased with himself, he'd requested this assignment it was an excellent opportunity to get out of the lab for a while – it was a rare chance to do something a little bit different. It was supposed to be a confidential route, nobody outside the team participating were supposed to know when or where it was taking place – Tim hadn't even told Vanessa what he was taking part in that morning even though she'd known he was doing something that obviously had him excited.

_"You're not going to tell me? Not even a little hint?" she asked him trying to coax the information out of him._

_"Sorry babe, it's confidential – maybe tonight I can fill you in." He laughed at the look of dismay on her face._

_"Okay. You just be careful out there today – don't be a hero." She leant down taking a mouthful of his coffee and pressing a firm kiss to his full mouth._

_"I'm in court all day but I'll see you tonight?"_

_"You just try and stop me."_

_He grinned cheekily kissing her again drawing her closer as he slipped his tongue passed her lips probing and teasing tasting the coffee she'd just drank as she melted into him. Vanessa pulled away hesitantly frowning as she caught sight of his watch face._

_"Damn, I'm going to be late!"_

_"But it was worth it." He grinned watching her snatch up her brief case and fly towards the door._

_"Love you!" she called over her shoulder, running out of the house without waiting for a reply from Tim._

Tim sighed dropping his dark head into his hands, his discomfort bone deep. He knew that IAB were going to look at him for this – they were going to consider that he was the leak; after all he'd been shot but survived his partner had suffered a more tragic fate. Not only that but he had requested to participate in the disposal – he'd asked to be specifically assigned to the disposal truck itself. He knew he'd done nothing wrong, he'd never broken the confidence, never disclosed a breath of information that could be used against them regarding this case. IAB could smell blood, he knew that and he was definitely not looking forward to the polygraph he was required to take to prove his innocence.

The silence of the locker room became louder than the roar of the gunfire from the gunfight there was something that Tim needed to do before he took the polygraph but looking down at the cell phone in his hands he realized he couldn't make the call. For one his hands were still shaking too much to dial the number but more than that he knew that this was a conversation that needed to take place face to face not via an electronic medium. _"I just need a few more minutes – then I'll call…I don't want to worry her…"_ he thought stubbornly refusing to take action.

* * *

Vanessa strode along the hallways bright sunlit of the Miami Dade crime lab, trying to maintain a cool, calm exterior whilst inside her stomach tied itself into a thousand knots. She made her way into the break room glancing around quickly hoping to see a familiar face – once again she can't find who she's looking for but she doesn't slow down her search. If anything it only spurs her on harder – her breathing is erratic, her heartbeat pounding against her ribcage as her anxiety increases exponentially with every second that ticks by. Desperately she continued her search looking in laboratories, trying to catch a glimpse of the familiar dark curled head.

After tearing the upper floors of the building apart searching for her quarry she finds herself standing in the doorway to the locker room. As she walked along the rows of cool steel lockers she could feel her anxiety intensifying, threatening to engulf her unless she could get it under control. If only she could find him, all she wanted to do was see him and know for certain that he was all in one piece. If she was being entirely honest she wanted to scream and shout and cry and shake him vigorously, to try and convey to him exactly how she'd felt when she'd heard the talk down in PD but she knew she wouldn't, at least not at first.

It wasn't until she heard a familiar drawn out sigh from the bay closest to the entrance did she realize just how scared she had been – she swallowed down a sob and headed back towards that direction. Trying not to run in blind panic Vanessa moved quickly towards the sigh, her high heels clicking sharply on the tiled floor. She stopped in her tracks as she saw him sitting there, his dark curly head heavy in his hands, his shoulders hunched over with tension from the morning's ordeal. She slowly walked up to him and as calmly as she could manage she sat next to him.

"Hey you." She whispered his usual greeting.

"Hey." He murmured, running his hands over his face before stealing a brief look at her.

His five o'clock shadow had long since hit twelve, he had a small graze on his cheek and a different shirt from the one he'd been wearing when he'd left her apartment in the early hours of this morning.

"So I uh, I heard you got shot." She whispered reaching out to softly graze her hand against his where it lay in his lap. She almost couldn't get the words out, when she'd found out what happened that morning during the dispo transport she didn't believe it, she thought it was someone's idea of a sick joke. Tim sighed again before answering; he savored the feeling of comfort her small, soft hand provided as it gently stroked his.

"My vest caught it. Hollis wasn't so lucky." He looked over at her, the disappointment he felt at himself shone clearly in his eyes.

"IAB is involved." She stated rather than asked, she'd been involved in officer involved shootings before she knew the procedure.

He nodded letting out another heavy sigh and looking back at his hands folded in his lap.

"My gun misfired…it misfired because I didn't clean it. This is all my fault."

"Thinking like that is poison Speed. You know what went wrong, don't let it happen again."

He pulled her small pale hand between his and squeezed it affectionately, thankful that she hadn't told him that there was nothing he could have done to prevent it – she'd given him the gentle kick in the ass he needed, even if it was too late to save Hollis. He had no idea exactly what was running through her mind behind those beautiful blue eyes but he could guess. She was pissed that he'd been so careless, scared at the thought that she could have lost him that day, relieved that he was still with her pretty much all in one piece and anxious about what would happen to him next. He knew that that was only the tip of the iceberg of her conflicting emotions – selfishly he was glad that she had held it together, he didn't know what he'd do if she were to cry in front of him. Seeing Vanessa cry was one of the few things in the world which rendered the normally quick witted investigator speechless and unsure of himself.

Vanessa slid her other hand along his far cheek, pulling his head closer so she could place a firm kiss to his temple. She leant her forehead there for a few beats before asking him –

"Will you be alright?" He gave her a halfhearted shrug.

"Just tell IAB the truth, there is nothing they can do to you. You made a stupid mistake Speed, just count yourself lucky that it wasn't any worse." Vanessa chided him honestly.

There was no point telling him there was nothing more he could have done, he already knew that. Even if his gun was fully functioning he couldn't have saved Hollis, sure he may have been able to take down the gunman that killed him but even that wouldn't have changed Hollis' fate in the slightest.

"You could have died out there today Tim – we could have lost you because you didn't clean your damn gun." She told him bluntly.

"**I could have lost you!**" She snapped suppressing a sob, her anger at the stupidity of it all bubbling up inside her chest. It may seem harsh but he obviously needed to hear it, he needed to know just how serious this morning's events could have been.

"I'm sorry Nessie." He whispered earnestly.

He chocked down a sudden lump in his throat – hearing from Vanessa's mouth that he might never have made it home today was seared into his memory. He could see how distressed she was even though she was trying her hardest to hide it from him – knew that if anything serious had happened to him she would have been alone again, without him.

"Don't be sorry Tim, fix it. I don't want to have to bury you." She snapped looking away as tears sprang forth - she did not let him go, if anything she gripped his hand tighter.

The honesty of her outburst hit Speed in the centre of his chest, the pain was worse than when the bullet had slammed into him earlier that morning. Tenderly he guided her face back towards his and held her gaze for a long moment not speaking, simply squeezing her hand trying to reassure her, his fingers affectionately caressing her pale cheek.

In that moment he vowed to himself that he would never not clean his gun again. If he had been fatally wounded this morning she would have had no one to blame but him, it would have been his own doing. Vanessa could see the promise in his eyes and she nodded before pressing a second kiss to his temple, getting up to leave the room when he soothingly massaged her hand again, "I'll call you when it's over." He pulled her slender hand to his lips, letting a tender kiss linger there. He watched her slow retreat from the locker room suddenly hit by one final realization as she reached the doorway.

"Nessie!" He called after her waiting till she turned back to him.

"I love you." He whispered gruffly needing her to hear it as much as he needed to say it out loud.

She simply nodded before moving out of his field of vision.

Tim stood slowly once more running his hand across his scruffy face – it was time to face the music.

**A/N Okay so you know I'm dying to know what you thought, REVIEW please, leave me a little love it makes me update faster.**


	7. Garbage

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything CSI Miami :( I do however own Vanessa Pedrosa and any others you don't recognise.**

**A/N - Apologies for the delay but here enjoy...**

* * *

It was just after 2am on a dreary, drizzling night in downtown Miami – the moon was hidden behind fat grey clouds threatening rain but not yet deciding on whether or not to release their wet load. Winds were picking up blowing in cool ocean breezes – a pleasant change from the humidity of the last few days. Far off in the distance a lightning storm surged and stirred up the ocean turning it black and turbid - angry waves crashing on the Miami shorefront. The introspective lieutenant turned away from the wondrous display of mother natures fury and focused his attention on the reason he'd been called out of the sanctuary of his apartment at this late hour.

"What have we got detective?"

Horatio asked quietly his blue eyes surveying the scene before him. A young woman lay in a pool of congealed blood her lifeless hazel eyes staring heavenward her skin was grey, her clothing appeared damp her hair stringy.

"Young woman is Davalee Ross, 22 she's a student from U of M. We found her id in the purse beside her. First glance looks like a small caliber bullet to the torso – obviously we need to wait for the post mortem but I'm guessing the bullet entered her lung deflating it, causing a haemopneumothorax. It's possible that the bullet nicked her aorta she bleed out quickly."

"But there isn't enough blood here to suggest that she was shot right here is there."

"No there isn't but there is a blood trail heading down the alley. I pushed the cordon back to preserve the scene."

Horatio treated Vanessa to a rare smile and nodded at her before calling out for Eric.

"Eric, blood trail – photograph and collect samples for Valera in DNA please."

"You got it H." Eric nodded at his boss giving Vanessa a quick squeeze on the arm as he moved past her.

"What else can you tell me about the scene?" Horatio asked Vanessa.

"She's been here in the alley for sometime, a few hours at least."

"What makes you say that?" Horatio prompted his eyebrow raised in question.

"Her hair and clothing are wet which means she was here during the short burst of rain that hit this area an hour ago. But she'd been here before that, the edges of her blood pool are congealed, some of it washed away but not enough to fully compromise the scene." Horatio nodded proudly. Vanessa knew he was slowly grooming her to think like a CSI not just a detective. If she ever decided to jump to his side of the street he'd have no hesitation recommending her for a position at CSI.

"I don't suppose there were any witnesses?" Horatio asked sarcastically.

"Not in this neighborhood. If anyone would admit that they heard the gunshot you can bet your bottom dollar no one was looking out their window when it happened."

Horatio chuckled wryly it was entirely true – there was no way anyone who backed onto this alley would admit to hearing or seeing anything untoward. These people lived hard lives scrimping out a meager living and trying to keep their kids out of the gangs long enough to make something of themselves and escape the neighborhood for good. It was a sad cycle, no one would speak out because of the fear of retribution from the local thugs and yet they blamed those same thugs constantly for the state of their miserable lives. If only they would join together and speak out against the local gangs maybe Horatio and his team could actually help them rise above their current stations but until then his hands were tied. They would follow the evidence as far as they could and pray that it was enough to lead to the conviction of a least one of the local trouble makers – if not the community had no one to blame but themselves.

"Yo H, you should see this!" Eric called out Horatio nodded moving towards him swiftly.

"What have you got Eric?"

Vanessa watched from afar as the two crime scene analysts began dissecting the physical evidence. The throb from the bass of too loud Spanish rap music ebbed through Vanessa's body, she could make out the hum of the traffic, a domestic argument coming from one of the apartments that backed onto the alley and something else – something she couldn't quite place but that drew her further up the alley away from Horatio and the deceased girl. She looked around the dark alley, felt the lightest sheen of rain begin to fall against her skin, her breathing came faster as it dawned on her that she was far into an alley at a crime scene with no back up, she hadn't told the patrol officer what she was doing, hadn't told anyone.

Her hand slid to her holster unclipping the leather strap which kept her Glock securely inside; her fingers looped lightly around the steel handle, it's cool touch reassuring her. Again she heard the noise. It sounded like a cat mewling but not quite – it was shrill and breathy – what ever it was it made her heart pound in her throat. Pulling out her flash light she swept it in long slow streaks across the scene noticing the rear entrance to a church off to her left and a train of dumpsters to her right. She was in the dead centre of the alley now, she stopped, head cocked, straining to hear the noise again. _This cat had better be grateful! _She thought to herself as the noise came again – the dumpster. it was definitely either in or next to the dumpster she decided moving closer. The rain was slick on her skin, her hair beginning to grow heavier as the rain weighed it down. Reaching the dumpster she shone her flashlight around the base, movement in a cardboard box facing the church caught her eye – she trained the flashlight there and drew a shaky breath.

"I need a medic here!" she screamed down the alley not believing what she was seeing.

* * *

Horatio's head snapped up, he could have sworn he'd heard someone call out but couldn't tell who or where.

"Eric did you hear that?" he asked standing slowly looking around the scene his blue eyes focused, piercing the darkness.

"Hear what? What is it H?" Eric asked joining his mentor.

Honestly Horatio wasn't quite sure, it could have been someone from one of the surrounding buildings calling out, it might have even been from the next alley. But he doubted it, his skin prickled as he stood trying to piece together what he was hearing. He looked around at the personnel manning the crime scene – the patrol officer was still standing in the same place he'd been since Horatio had arrived, the coroners transport people and the coroner were with the body. The only person he couldn't see was Detective Pedrosa. He looked over at her police issue sedan expecting to see her against it filling in paperwork – she wasn't there. Horatio and Eric turned to each other reaching the same conclusion at the same moment.

"Where's Vanessa?" Eric asked panic threatening to rise up in his throat when once again they heard the voice call out.

"I need a medic!" Definitely female, it had to be Vanessa.

Horatio turned and ran toward the centre of the alley, towards the voice ; calling for an ambulance on his cell as he ran. He stopped in his tracks a few feet away from Vanessa relieved to see she seemed to be okay. It took a moment longer to realize that cradled in her arms was a small infant, crying shrewdly, both of them soggy from the heavier rain now beginning to fall. Horatio just looked at her horrified for a moment before coming to his senses. He eased off his suit jacket, holding it above Vanessa's head he guided her back to his hummer, opening the back door assisting her to sit down the baby cradled against her chest.

"I need a towel; I need to keep the baby warm." She murmured as she began removing the baby's wet clothing placing them into a clear evidence bag Horatio presented her with. Eric appeared beside her his jaw dropping open at the sight of the baby in her arms.

"Eric, a towel if you would please." Horatio instructed quietly.

Eric quickly removed a couple of new towels from the trunk and handed them across to Horatio who laid one across Vanessa's lap. She placed the baby on top, swiftly wrapping it around the baby's small shaking body securely.

"Shhh sweetheart, you're safe now…lets get you warm little one." Vanessa allowed Horatio to drape a towel around her shoulders before handing him the infant.

What she did next neither man was prepared for – Vanessa reached for the hem of her blouse tugging the wet fabric quickly over her head to expose her lacy yellow bra and bare skin she used the towel to dry herself off and gestured for Horatio to hand her back the infant which he did immediately; a pinkish blush tinting his pale Irish skin at the sight of his colleague sitting about in her underwear. Vanessa partially unwrapped the towel and held the baby tightly against her chest so that they were pressed skin to skin – it was the fastest way to keep the baby warm until the paramedics arrived.

Horatio marveled as the baby quieted down almost immediately; Vanessa's hand smoothing soft circles along the tiny bundle's back. She was pale and visibly shaken; Eric could only imagine the tattoo her heart was beating against her ribcage as her body came down from its adrenaline high. Eric gently draped a silver emergency blanket around the pair rubbing his hands along Vanessa's arms trying to reassure her that everything was going to be okay.

"I took photos on my cell phone – it was the only camera I had. The box is still in the alley, there might be trace evidence on it." Vanessa informed them not taking her eyes off the tiny, precious bundle in her arms. Eric nodded accepting the cell and moving back up the alley to retrieve the evidence.

"He was in the garbage Horatio…they threw him away as though he was trash. Who could do that to a baby?" she asked him her blue eyes full of confusion.

Horatio leant closer to her peering down at their small victim. His blood boiled at the thought of someone purposely placing this beautiful new life in the garbage. Every person deserved the right to a beginning, the right to grow and be nourished – in a perfect world this child would never have ended up in this situation. However as Horatio knew all too well this world was anything but perfect and this wasn't the only baby any of them would come across dumped along with the garbage. _At least this little one is still alive._ Horatio sent a silent prayer of thanks to whatever divine being had seen to that.

"How could anyone throw you away?" Vanessa wondered aloud caressing the baby's soft cheek tenderly.

"I don't know Detective but when we find them – they won't get away with this Vanessa, I promise you that."

By the time the paramedics arrived just moments later, the baby was asleep against Vanessa and her shaking had somewhat subsided – the medics insisted on taking her to get checked out despite her protests that she was fine she was still pale and her heart rate and BP were a little high. Horatio told her to go ahead he'd follow in the hummer as soon as Eric returned with their evidence. He closed the ambulance doors thumping solidly to signal the driver that all was secure before they drove off to the closest emergency department.

Horatio looked across at the haulers loading the young woman's corpse into the rear of the ME's van it crossed his mind that perhaps she was the baby's mother – however something about that just didn't sit right. She was found closer to the south end of the alley moving in towards the centre whereas the baby was found closer to the northern end of the alley. Unless she had already abandoned the baby and was heading out when she'd been attacked. But then why would she go back towards the center of the alley, away from the street where she might have found someone to help her? Was she attempting to protect the child? Or had seen simply been disoriented and fighting for her life, not sure which direction to go in and had just kept going until she'd collapsed and died? Horatio knew he'd have to wait until the evidence was in but so far his gut was telling him that this child's mother was in trouble elsewhere.

He cast a final piercing gaze at the crime scene before him ensuring that he had covered every angle, that all of their evidence had been collected before heading over to the hummer. He was soaked through but the fire in his blood kept him from feeling the chill – he had the mystery of one dead young woman and an abandoned infant to solve. As Eric drove them towards the hospital Horatio decided that as soon as he'd checked in with Vanessa he would call in the rest of the team. They wouldn't rest until he had answers, until he could ensure that this abandoned child was safe and secure. As far as he was concerned his was the only case in Miami tonight.

* * *

**A/N As always you know how I love reviews, I'm sure I've mentioned that before :P ... so please feel free to indulge me. Criticisms, questions, outbursts, suggestions, love - I'll accept it all. Stay tuned for the next installment...**


	8. Foster Care

Eric slowed the hummer to a smooth halt, the engine idling as Horatio climbed out of the passenger side swiftly grabbing his silver crime scene kit and closing the door with a muffled thud. Eric met his mentors sharp blue gaze and the question he wanted to ask died on his lips as Horatio nodded slightly. He would call Eric as soon as they knew anything, he wouldn't leave him back at the lab wondering. Eric watched Horatio pick up the shiny silver kit and make his way confidently into the hospital ER. As the magnetic doors whooshed closed Eric lost sight of Horatio, he put the hummer in gear and resumed his journey to the lab.

Horatio glanced around the cool sterile ER heading briskly towards the nurses station.

"Excuse me ma'am, a detective Pedrosa was just brought her with a young infant could you tell me where they are please." He asked politely in his hushed, calm manner.  
The nurse glanced down the list of current patients and shook her head.

"I don't have a Pedrosa listed here, I do have a baby John Doe admitted 6 minutes ago…says here he had a police escort." She looked at Horatio watching as he chuckled softly and shook his head ruefully.

"That will be them. Where can I find them."

"We had the infant admitted to NICU."

"Thank you." Horatio replied once more moving away swiftly insearch of Vanessa.

* * *

The neo-natal intensive care unit was by far one of the quietest wards Horatio had ever been too. Walking along the corridor he could hear the steady beep and whoosh of some unidentified piece of equipment, there was no unruly chatter, no audible conversation or even crying – just an eerie pervasive silence which had his ears ringing. He paused briefly at the deserted nurses station, glancing down a corridor on the off chance he'd spot a member of staff – he wasn't keen to stalk the hallways of this ward uninvited, there was no need to cause anyone undue alarm. Luckily he didn't need to waste time waiting for a nurse to guide him to his victim, his glance of the hallway revealed a solitary figure standing expectantly before a plate glass window. Horatio recognized the woman as Vanessa immediately – her wet hair hung limply down her back, her arms were folded her body language indicating her anxiety.

Horatio padded quietly down the hall coming to a rest beside her, his gaze focused on what she was observing. The infant from the alley was laid out before a doctor and 2 nurses, stripped bare he was wailing softly as the doctor examined him, palpating his tiny body, weighing him and listening to his heart and lungs. Baby John Doe was redressed in a simple white all-in-one, wrapped lightly in a soft blanket and place into a humidi-crib.

"How is he doing?" Horatio asked softly.

"They haven't said anything yet. I think we found him pretty quickly, he should be okay right? I mean they aren't exactly moving at the speed of light in there." Vanessa rambled anxiously.

"Let's hope so Vanessa. Now what about you, have you been checked by medical staff yet?" he asked already knowing the answer.

"I'm fine Horatio, a little bit of rain won't do me in." She brushed off his concern quickly.

"No but all the same Detective you've had a shock. I'm going to get some one to look you over okay. Just to be thorough." He motioned for a nearby nurse politely asking if she wouldn't mind assessing Vanessa for signs of shock.

Moments later Vanessa was declared to have a clean bill of health, she was also told she could go in and see the baby. Standing next to the humidi-crib Vanessa marveled at the wonder of the tiny infant held within. There he was in surprisingly good health despite being abandoned next to a dumpster and exposed a Miami rain shower for god knew how long. An unconscious smile graced Vanessa lips as the baby's tiny fingers wrapped around her index finger and gripped tightly.

"See, your safe and warm now sweetheart just like I promised." She whispered watching the rise and fall of his little chest as he slept soundly.  
"What happens now? Where will he go?" Vanessa asked Horatio quietly.

"Well I think for now, the best place for him to be is here in the hospital." He looked down at Vanessa softly knowing she was feeling attached to the infant already.  
"A case worker from the Department of Child Services is on the way, they'll be able to tell us more."

Horatio moved away to discuss with the Doctors the health status of the baby boy – he needed to determine approximately how old he was and how long he'd been exposed to the environment. While that was happening Vanessa didn't budge from the humidi-crib, her finger was still tightly enclosed by the baby's hand, it was as though he was clinging to her asking her to reassure him that everything was going to be okay.

"I'm not going to let anything happen to you, I promise." She whispered.

A curvaceous African American woman in her mid to late forties wearing an ill fitting pinstripe suit, her hair short and tightly curled and an expansive face bearing a permanently annoyed expression ambled into the NICU her gaze flicking between the baby, Vanessa, Horatio and the lingering unit staff. Vanessa thought she saw the woman fight down an eyeball roll.

"Uh huh. Melody Jackson DCS and you might be who?" she demanded looking at Vanessa disdainfully.  
"Detective Vanessa Pedrosa, I found the infant."  
"Don't give you claims on him sweetheart. You need to step out while I discuss some options with the good doctor." She waited impatiently expecting Vanessa to disappear without discussion.

Horatio could see Vanessa bristle against the presumptions of the older woman watched her mouth set in a firm line and knowing that she was about to argue the point called to her quietly.

"Detective, let's give these people space to work."

Vanessa hesitated looking between Horatio and the infant before sighing slowly and extricating her finger from the baby's fierce grasp. She made her way across to Horatio casting a final look back at the crib.

"So what y'all are telling me is that although he was let by a dumpster, out in the rain he's fine. Y'all don't need to keep him in for observation."  
"No. As a matter of fact we feel that right now what he needs more than anything is a nurturing environment."  
"Uh hunh, and what you think those just grow on trees? You want me to go on over to wal-mart and pick him up on a those?"  
"What I'm saying is there is no medical reason for me to admit this infant to this unit."  
"So you're wiping your hands of him?"  
"We called you in because this is what your department does; you find emergency accommodation for abused and neglected kids."  
"Now exactly where do you expect me to place him at 3 o'clock in the mornin'? Or should I just take him home myself?"

Horatio watched the two supposed professionals bickering over whom exactly was going to take responsibility for their tiny charge – his heart sinking at the inability of these two bureaucrats to see the bigger picture. They had forgotten that this wasn't a case of who owns what problem – they were both trying to shirk the responsibility for this tiny new life onto the other, neither of them had his best interests at heart. Vanessa let out an exasperated sigh.

"Honestly is nobody thinking of this poor child?" she hissed furiously.  
"You know that's not true Detective." Horatio soothed.  
"Look at this pair, they couldn't find their asses in the dark with a map and a flashlight!" Horatio looked at her perplexed.  
"Oh this is ridiculous!"

Vanessa marched over to the bickering pair her annoyance and frustration at the situation emanating from every pore any neither of them turned to face her, that's how focused they were on their own issues and agendas.

"Okay let me get this right." She interrupted, "You don't want to admit him as a patient?" The doctor nodded heartily, no shame felt at his decision.  
"And you don't want to do your job and find him a family to be placed with." Vanessa accused the DCS worker.  
"Listen here Miss Thing, my job isn't easy. You think I can just pull a family willing to take a newborn out of thin air? I got procedures to follow, paperwork – follow up visits, counseling and reimbursements to organize. That don't just happen like that." She snarled snapping her fingers.  
"Okay how about I do you job for you then? I'll take the infant. I'll look after him until we can find a suitable family member willing to take him in."

Horatio looked at Vanessa shaking his head sadly, she was too close to this – he should have seen this coming. He had absolutely no doubt that she could pull this off right up to the point where she had to let him go to someone else's care – that part Horatio had difficulty imagining. He turned away from the scene before him as his cell vibrated against his belt.

"Talk to me Eric…okay, no that's good work…I'll be sure to tell her…keep looking. Have Valera run the buccal swab from the infant against Davalee Ross."

He looked across the room to see that the two headstrong women were still locking horns. Ms Jackson from DCS let out a barking laugh.

"You think it's that easy huh? You just demand him and he's yours? I got news for you sunshine and its all bad." Her laugh had jolted the baby awake, he cried out sharply, wailing. No matter what Ms Jackson did he refused to settle.  
"I'm an emergency foster parent registered with DCS and recently accredited. Check your files, Vanessa Antonella Ingrid Pedrosa, DOB 12.6.1978." Vanessa stated moving to the crib and lifting the infant out, holding him securely against her chest, rocking him slightly. Like magic the baby stops crying almost immediately, feeling safe cradled against Vanessa's chest, her already familiar scent calming him instantly.

"Do we have a decision yet ladies on what is happening with Jack here?" He asked calmly yet forcefully.  
"Jack?" Vanessa repeated softly.  
"We believe so. Eric found a message scrawled inside the box – _Take care of Jack, FR. Keep him safe_. We haven't gotten anything else yet." Horatio informed her.  
"A name is great place to start, isn't it Jack." She cooed.  
"It certainly is." Horatio agreed watching Vanessa with an unusually strong sense of fatherly pride blossoming through his chest.

Ms Jackson broke out her cell calling her office to verify Vanessa's claim and ensure that all the necessary paperwork preceding an emergency placement was already in order, which it was. Officially she had no further argument to prevent Vanessa from taking the infant home with her – didn't mean she was going to go easy on her, she was going to ride her like a Gulfstream Park pony.

"Alright Detective I am officially leaving this infant in your care. You've done this before, you know the policies and procedures. You are to ring in every four hours for status reports, do not call late, do not miss a scheduled call. That baby is not to leave your sight. No unsecured firearms, no liquor, no illegal activity of any kind and you get a secure baby carrier fitted to your personal vehicle before you leave this hospital. Are we clear on this Miss Pedrosa."  
"Crystal." Was Vanessa only response.

* * *

"Okay so you've called me with some weird requests before Vanessa but this one tops the list…what's going on?" Speedle asked as he entered the neonatal wing of the Dade Memorial hospital. Under the crook of one arm he carried the change of clothes she had requested when she'd rung him twenty minutes earlier, in his other hand he clutched a baby carrier. Vanessa hadn't told him why she needed it only that he needed to get in her car drive to Dade Memorial hospital with a change of clothes for her and collect something in his name at the front desk before coming upstairs to NICU.

Shaking his head in wonder he looked over at Vanessa and felt the breath literally leave his body. She was sitting in a rocking chair in the nursery, a small bundle wrapped in a blue blanket cradled gently in her arms. He watched as she held a bottle to the hungry mouth, watched the baby suckle greedily as Vanessa gently stroked a finger against the velvet skin of his cheek. She was humming softly and looking every inch the doting mother. Even though Vanessa herself was still wrapped in a thick white towel, her damp hair hanging limp down her back Speedle didn't think he'd ever seen her look more beautiful than she did in that moment tenderly cradling the tiny baby.

"Hey handsome you made it." Vanessa smiled gently looking at the baby carrier Speedle carried in one hand as he stared at her dumbfounded.  
"Something you wanna tell me Nessie?" he joked lightly moving across the room to get a better look at Vanessa and the baby.  
"Tim meet Jack. I found him at the scene I was called out to…who could just throw him away like that? He's so little." She frowned looking down at the precious bundle she held.

Tim crouched down next to her, resting his hand on top of hers, squeezing tenderly. It worried him just how quickly she had become attached to this tiny human being – cases like this never ended well. This kid would eventually end up in the DCS system or with a family member – hopefully one better suited to caring for him than the one who tossed him aside in the first place.

"Don't give me that look." Vanessa chastised him.  
"I didn't say anything."  
"You don't have to Tim; it's written right across your face." She cupped his cheek lovingly trying to reassure him.  
"I just want him to be safe. He's not mine, I don't get to keep him but while I have him I'm going to make sure I protect him." She vowed looking down at the sleeping face of the baby in her arms. She stood and gathered her purse moving softly to avoid disturbing the baby.  
"Come on, let's get you home."

* * *

Back at Vanessa's house she and Tim quickly set up the meager items they had hired from the hospital and bought at a 24hour wal-mart type store on the way home. They'd managed to get a small folding crib, bottles, some clothes, blankets, diapers and wipes, formula and a baby bath. Tim got the crib set up in Vanessa's bed room and put the bottles and formula in the kitchen – the clothes and diapers were in a bag on the foot of her bed. He leant in the doorway watching as Vanessa gently placed Jack on his back in the crib, her hand tenderly rubbing his small belly as he whimpered slightly from the change in his position. Vanessa tucked the blanket into the end of the cot, making sure it was enough to keep him warm but was no where near his face so that it didn't present a suffocating hazard. She sighed watching him sleep for several minutes before moving away. Tim wrapped his arms around her – she smelt like her usual scent of Jasmine and Neroli mixed with something new…baby powder he guessed.

"You okay Nessie?" he murmured, the rumble of his deep voice vibrating through his chest and into Vanessa.  
She turned in his arms and nodded before placing a sweet kiss to the center of his chest. "I'm sorry I dragged you out of bed – I know your shift was hellish."

He brushed the comment aside and led her out to the spacious open plan living area pulling them both down onto the couch. Vanessa automatically kicked off her shoes and tucked her feet underneath herself as she curled against his strong frame. They sat quietly for a few minutes Tim simply stroking her hair and enjoying the faint scent he could smell wafting up from her hair whilst she savored the warmth of his body, the strong steady rhythm of his heart beat beneath her hand. She heard him release a deep sigh and lifted her head to look up at his weary face.

"You're tired Timmy." She pointed out needlessly. "If you don't want to…I mean don't feel like you need to stay…I know you need to get some rest. I'll be fine here."  
"You trying to get rid of me Nessie?" he asked gruffly, playfully bumping her leg with his.  
"No, I just know that tonight nobody is going to get a lot of sleep in this apartment."  
"We never do." He grinned wickedly.  
"I think tonight is going to be a bit less fun than usual." She pointed out.

As if to emphasize her point Jack let out a piercing wail from the bedroom as he woke up disoriented and alone. Vanessa raised an eyebrow, pushing herself up off Tim to head into the baby.

Speed rubbed his hands over his weary face, he knew what she said was true but if he went back to his own apartment there would be no way he'd get any sleep without her there. He had long ago become addicted to being able to stretch across the bed and find her there next to him – her soft warm body ever ready to be held or to hold him. So instead of grabbing his things and heading home he followed her into the bedroom and watched as she fussed over the infant – she held him firmly to her chest her hand cradling his head as she sang softly to him. Tim slid his arms around her placing a kiss to the top of her head as he felt a familiar sense of contentment wash over him – it was the same every single time he held her in his arms.

"This suits you." He whispered, he could tell she was grinning even without seeing her face.

* * *

**A/N Okay folks what did you think? Loved it? Hated it? Want more? Want something else? I'm not going to know unless you tell me...**


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